Solomia Maievska photographed by Ana Dias

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm6srs6oJF2/

🦂 Snejana Onopka for balmain ss 07

img: knenia schevchenko by olena rozbytska

Ukrainian actor Oleg Zagorodnii, who played Roman Matvejev. In the true gay love story in “Firebird”, between two Soviet military men in 1970’s.

Hey, just checking in - is the most handsome guy in the universe awake yet? Good morning 💋

Solomia Maievska photographed by Ana Dias

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnEuPgULzyg/

Art Deep Dive #2: 'Left with Nothing, Somehow She Still Survives'

Left With Nothing, She Still Survives

When I was 29 I was in the middle of my art studio sprinting to get as many pieces done for a charity art show as I could. I was putting on the show to help support the people in Ukraine including a close friend and fellow filmmaker I knew. I wanted to work in a wide range of art for the show to appeal to more people. One of the styles I wanted to work in was nude figure drawing. I think nude figure drawings are a very effective and pretty universal way to communicate emotions and states of mind without using words, as well as being the most effective way to tell a story with images. They are also a fascinating collaboration between two artists: the artist drawing and the artist modeling. Between these two you are expressing a few things: the first being a level of comfort and intimacy between two humans attempting to create something beautiful using only their bodies, the second an emotion, concept, or story as being expressed through the natural human state, and third you are displaying the beauty of the human body in any state of being. Now the next thing I had to do was figure out how to find the beauty in one of the horrific and truly disgusting acts in human history. Easy, right?

At the time I had an art studio at Art on 30th Gallery in San Diego. It was an excellent learning experience and a very easy re-welcoming into the world after such a long time in complete isolation. The gallery offered a Nude Figure Drawing Group that I was lucky enough to be a part of. Knowing this was coming up, I decided to dip into reading articles, watching videos, and talking to a friend living in Ukraine. I can never say this process was fun to experience, but as an artist, I think I still had to find something within the situation that would alter my perspective. Within the alteration of perspective, I can at least find a respect for anything that alters my perspective in any way, good or bad.

Perspective (noun):  A way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular issue or life in general).

Perspective has always been an important tool for me when it comes to storytelling. I love being able to get into a character’s heart, soul, and mind because somewhere in between lies their perspective of life, and within that is the answer to who they are. 

After all the research and inspiration recon I had so many questions, so many horrifying images in my mind both real and imagined as a result of the real images (overactive imaginations go both ways). I had to meditate on the subject. I tried to put myself in the shoes of a human trapped in a war zone; as a human only armed with first-world problems and experiences these thoughts began to truly scare me. I pushed past the fear, forcing myself to explore deeper than surface-level fear. I began to drift into the realm of the humans that somehow survived these invasions and whose lives are now dictated by the very thing that has taken so much from them. I began to think about other tragedies throughout history. I began to think about those very few but often very strong humans who managed to survive such monumental atrocities. My thoughts became a little more clear until I reached the question: “When a human is stripped to nothing, how are they able to continue surviving?”

Sleepless nights feeling guilt and wondering if I was doing enough - helping enough - or if I was simply watching naked people struggle. I took these thoughts into the next Figure Drawing Group session.

Our nude figure model Michele Gregoire was perfect for what I wanted to communicate. She was very petite and thin. I could see her ribs and her stomach appeared sunken in. She had a gentle, calm beauty about her. She had a vase with her as a modeling item. Something about this pose struck me. This was it, this was the story I’ve been looking for. The character was there in front of me in this pose, in the expression on her face, in the smaller details of her body allowing her figure to tell this character’s journey. It was truly an honor to work with Michele and she is an amazing model who is not afraid to make bold, beautiful, poses that are perfect for storytelling. I reached for a sort of orange-toned paper. I wanted to give the paper a bit of texture before I drew the figure so I rubbed charcoal all over my hands and simply ran my hands all over the page leaving beautiful, soft streaks of dust and shadows. From there, with graphite, I drew out the pose. I had planned on using charcoal or even oil pastel but the more I continued to sketch and draw the figure out I enjoyed the graphite look. I continued to work with heavier graphite adding shadows and highlights until I was happy. By the time I was finished, I knew the piece didn’t need color or charcoal. It was complete.

After letting the piece rest I went back to it the next day. The title simply floated to me: ‘Left with Nothing, She Still Survives’. I cut a 12 x 24 x 1-inch wood panel where I mounted the drawing to it for display. For me, the title carries the representation of the strength of a human’s will to live. It wasn’t easy trying to find beauty within tragedy but with enough digging and searching inspiration can be found even in the most horrifying of events. This piece, although melancholic, I do believe is beautiful.

For more art check out my Instagram: @art_by_PAZ or my Facebook Page: facebook.com/artbypaz where I post my latest pieces, announcements for any other upcoming shows, and tease new artwork I’m currently working on.

‘Left with Nothing, She Still Survives’ is currently on display and for sale at SoCal Tattoo on Main Street for their ‘Black and White’ Group Exhibition until January 21st, 2024. It is open to public, along with the rest of the exhibit, for viewing and purchase during the shop's operational hours. For sale information or further information on this drawing please DM me directly.

Thank you for reading my second ‘Art Deep Dive’. I’m planning to continue this series so follow to stay updated and comment any questions you have about the process down below. Thank you again to editor Emily for making me sound coherent and not crazy.

-PAZ

Fairy boy 🧚🏻‍♂️